NEERJA BHANOT..... HUMANITY WAS HER RELIGION !

Neerja- a name which has become the “talk of the town” in recent times owing to the cinematic attempt taken by director Ram Madhvani in documenting the life of the late flight purser Neerja Bhanot who sacrificed her life while serving her duty. A name which had been forgotten for almost three decades has finally been brought to light especially for the youth, most of which was totally unaware of her existence and her story. A lot has been written about Neerja since the revival of her story and there’s nothing new one is left to write when it comes to describing what happened with this young, lively, joyous and selfless woman. Yet when you take to the internet or the print media, you find a new article about her every now and then, trying to tell the same story in a new way. This makes one wonder that what is it that keeps this flame going? What is it that is making me type all this despite knowing that her story is already out there readily available for people to read and watch? What is it that is making a writer like me(who otherwise doesn’t need much contemplation in writing what she feels) think so much in order to find the right words to tell the tale of this incredible woman? What is it that makes this brave heart stand out from the rest? What is it that makes her story still so fresh and relatable, even after a good thirty years and the change of an entire generation? What is it that binds the entire humanity together when it comes to Neerja Bhanot? Well, with a hope to get an answer to all of these questions, I dare to write something about the unexplainable, the indefinable, the invincible, the selfless, the kind, the benevolent, the Lado- Neerja Bhanot, the ‘Heroine of the Hijack’.

Born on 7th September 1962, in Chandigarh to Rama and Harish Bhanot, Neerja was their third child, after two sons Aneesh and Akhil. She was an answer to endless prayers, a wish come true, an angel that they were going to pamper for the rest of her short but grand life and cherish forever. Neerja was a no problem child since always as wrote her father describing her as one of those graceful souls who manage to keep others happy by sharing her joys but keeping her jolts away. Neerja lived a happy life spent in Chandigarh and Bombay in parts and was always the center of attention. Her parents’ favourite, she was called ‘Lado’(beloved daughter)by her parents and brothers for most of her life. As popularly known, Neerja was a successful model in the 80’s, modeling for popular brands like Binnaca, Vicco Turmeric and Amul and was a known face in the Indian households who owned television sets at the time. But owing to the simplicity that she and her family possessed, her parents got her married in March 1985 to a man who worked in the Gulf through a matrimonial advertisement and she went with him in the hope of having a happy married life. But as fate would have it, the husband turned out to be a man who couldn't understand her worth and tortured her for dowry, starving her for food and money, not even letting her call her parents. According to her father’s article, Neerja had lost 5 kg of weight already, in just two months of her marriage and that’s when she returned to her parents’ place in Bombay ending the ordeal. Her husband had written her a letter afterwards, threatening her to return at her own cost and that he’ll end the relation. He went on to ask ‘who was she’? “You are just a graduate”, wrote the man. This pulled the trigger for Neerja who wore her self respect like a sword and she decided to show him who she really was. She never returned to her husband and went on to mark her place in the world.

Neerja continued her modeling career and applied for the post of an Air hostess in the Pan AM American Airlines and out of the 10,000 applicants or so, managed to qualify to the top 80. Within six months of her joining, she was sent to Miami for training and returned as a Purser, because of her good performance. Her life seemed to have been coming back on track as she was doing what she loved, maintaining her self respect at the same time. A year ago, she had written to her father “I will do you proud”. Little did she know that she wasn't just going to do him proud, but the entire nation and beyond. The one thing that describes Neerja the best, is her principled nature. She was a person of great values and there was a little scope for compromise when it came to her principles. She had her wrong and right sorted and knew how to take a stand when needed. Her love for life and her zest to succeed in whatever she did complimented her value system and principled character well. On 5th September 1986, Neerja was given the responsibility of being the head purser of the American Airlines Flight PAN AM 73 which was to take off from Bombay (India) and terminate in New York taking a halt at Frankfurt and Karachi (Pakistan) on the way. She had been working relentlessly since the past three days and had returned home late on the night of 4th September 1986 from the shoot of an advertisement which turned out to be her last shoot ever but instead of being tired and irritated, she was content and happy from her long day of work, when she returned at around 8:00PM. Her mother’s advice was to call in sick to PAN AM and stay home but Neerja would do otherwise owing to her loyalty towards her duty. Her mother recalls how Neerja had told her about her training in case of a Hijack and she had advised her to leave such a job to which Neerja did not agree rather saying that she should motivate her being her mother. Mrs. Bhanot then asked Neerja to escape in case her plane gets hijacked to which the fearless girl replied “if all mothers behave like you then what will become of this nation”? Thus, when the news of the Hijack came, it was clear to Mrs. Rama Bhanot that her daughter wasn't returning.

As per schedule PAN AM 73 reached Karachi at around 5 AM for refueling and was hijacked by four gunmen dressed as security guards on the tarmac. Neerja on realizing that it’s a hijack immediately used intercom to inform the cockpit crew telling them the code for Hijack but was however grabbed from the pony by one of the hijackers but some other attendant overheard the code and informed them. The cabin crew fled from the overhead exit following protocol and Neerja was left in charge being the senior most flight member on board. We can all but imagine what must have been going on in her mind when she found herself carrying the responsibility of 379 lives in the presence of four brutal gunmen who would serve anybody no mercy come what may. But the young girl had realized that she doesn’t have much of a choice and hence decided on acting upon the situation trying her best to save as many lives as possible. Neerja’s sharp mind had understood that these sick minds were after the Americans so when she and her crew was asked to collect all the passports she made sure to hide all the American passports in trash chutes or hide them under the seats and instructed her crew to do the same. She thus managed to save 41 American lives on board, 2 of whom died however in the firing later. The negotiation between the hijackers and the Pakistani airport officials went on for about 17 hours for a new crew of pilots so that the plane could be taken to some other place as per the formers’ wish. This couldn’t happen however and thus Neerja’s presence of mind helped in saving the PAN AM 73 from a fate much worse by informing the cabin crew to flee in time. Throughout these painful and terrifying 17 hours of torture and brutality Neerja stayed on her toes doing her duty, serving people drinks and sandwiches, maintaining a smile which assured the victims that there was hope. As per the survivors, Neerja was terror stricken and was seen sobbing a few times during the hijack but did what she needed to do anyway. “ Hichki ruk jaane de, siski tham jaane de, is pal ki ye ghuzarish hai”(Control your sobs, it is the need of the hour), these lines from a song from her biopic aptly define the situation. She slipped a magazine to the man sitting near the emergency exit which had instructions on how to open the emergency gate and indicated him to do it when she signals. After 17 long hours of endless wait and torture, at around 9:00 PM, the Auxiliary Power of the plane went off, giving way to darkness in the flight, which made the Abu Nidal Terrorists lose their minds completely and they opened fire fearing a military attack. Their motive was to shoot eachother’s belts where they wore explosives but they missed targets due to the darkness inside. This gave Neerja an opportunity to open the emergency gate and though she could have been the first one to escape the ill fated flight she chose to stay in trying to help escape as many people as possible. As believed popularly, she selflessly saved three children by serving her body as a shield from a range of bullets coming their way and left this world, a martyr. While some say, she was shot point blank in the head while relentlessly saving all the passengers on board by letting them out through the emergency exit. Whatever the truth be, the fact remains that this girl single handedly managed to save 359 lives on board by defeating fear when it was at its best. A classic example of beauty with brains, she thought on her feet and did something, most of us can't even imagine doing. She defined the true spirit of selflessness and compassion,even if it meant for her to lose her life. She was posthumously given the Ashok Chakra Award by India and is the only woman and the youngest person to have ever received it. Pakistan honoured her with the Tamgha E Insaniyat Award and the US gave some of its Bravery Awards to this young soul. Her family started the Neerja Bhanot Trust where the Bhanot family issues two awards every year of Rs. 1,50,000 which goes each to an Indian woman subjected to social injustice, on counts such as dowry, desertion etc., who faces the situation with guts and grit and then makes a success of life by assisting other woman in similar social distress and an airline crew member, on a worldwide basis, who acts beyond the call of call of duty in a difficult situation. A time when most of the Humans are busy bringing each other down in the name of religion, power, money or politics, a time when terror and corruption have over powered peace and justice, a time when Humans hardly seem to possess any humanity, a time when “world peace” has become a dream so surreal, a time when more people are killed in the name of God than in the name of war, this was a girl who defied all the stereotypes and proved that above all and beyond everything, there lies a religion called “Humanity”. A young woman, standing on the verge of fulfilling all her dreams, having so much to look ahead to, had the opportunity to escape, and save her life. But she 'chose' to stay and save the life of others. A bunch of strangers whom she didn’t know, whose lives weren’t connected to hers until that very moment, who came from foreign lands, belonged to different religions. But Neerja saw them as mere humans whose lives were in danger because of a bunch of poor, mislead souls who judged people based on their geographical boundaries and believed to punish the innocents for their personal loss. I call them poor because they couldn’t see what Neerja saw so clearly, that above and beyond all concepts of cast, colour, race and creed, we are but humans and our true religion is to live humanly and peacefully, helping each other, spreading joy and doing the right thing because in the end, it’s only our “integrity” which is the true and eternal wealth we should all be proud of earning. I believe that is the reason why the world today celebrates Neerja and her sacrifice with respect and honour, and chooses to see those four men with anger and hatred. But I also believe that more than anger, people like them need our sympathy because they are the ones who need help for they have lost their way, their purpose of being born, their true religion which is nothing but humanity and they are not alone, majority of the fellow humans have fallen in this pit of darkness and they need light. A light like Neerja, who knew her purpose- “Mar jaungi lekin bhangungi nahin” (I’ll die but not run) as she said to her mother, she knew that in the end, nothing matters more than your integrity. In a moment when most of the people can easily be tempted to flee away, to run for their life, to be “selfish”, she “chose” to stay….even if it meant for her to be gone forever. But I don’t believe she is really gone. I believe that she is here and it is up to us for how long she would stay, because Neerja is a spirit, a spirit of life, a spirit of humanity, a spirit of integrity, a spirit of light, which if we ignite in ourselves, and continue to keep alive, would go on forever.

I still wonder what could have it been that kept her there, intact in that trauma, doing her duty, much more than that of a purser, when she had all the chances to escape. Even as I watched her story on the silver screen, in that moment where it could all change as she opened the emergency exit, all I wanted for her was to escape, despite knowing that she won’t, the desperation inside me for her to get out of that ordeal was so intense as if it was me, inside that plane. I wonder what would have been going on in her mind at that time and how she overcame it. That’s something we would never know, but what we do know is that no matter how scared you are or how tough life gets, you must do the right thing because in the end it’s your principles and integrity which define you. Celebrate life, live each moment like it’s your last for you may never see tomorrow, and never compromise on your self respect. Neerja has stayed in oblivion for too long, it’s time to make her immortal. The film has done its part by bringing this unsung heroine to light, let us do our bits by continuing to follow the light enlightened by her. In a world which is already full of hate and darkness, let’s spread some love and light.

P.S. Plant a tree, as your tribute to Neerja and give something to nature. I learnt this lesson from some little kids who did the same, also naming the tree Neerja. Next time you feel you need a hero, look within!

“Her loyalties to the passengers of the aircraft in distress will forever be a lasting tribute to the lasting qualities of human spirit”.(Neerja’s Ashok Chakra citation)

“Kehta ye pal, khud se nikal, jeetein hain chal jeetein hain chal, jeetein hain chal”!

(Says the moment, get over yourself, let’s live, let’s live, let’s live!)

#neerjabhanot #humanity #terrorism #hijack #courage #bravery